The Nintendo WiiWare Media Summit
LostWinds, Monkey Island, Cubes, Meat Boy and more
Whilst Nintendo's Wii has often been slated for its frugal release schedule and games that do not appeal to the more hardcore gamer, the WiiWare service appears to be making up for it with a very busy release schedule in the run up to Christmas. Without being too cynical, I am guessing that the titles that were on show were those deemed the cream of the crop by Nintendo and if using this as a benchmark then the future is looking bright for WiiWare. Here are our first impressions of the pick of what was on offer:
LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias
The first game was a runaway success on launch in 2008, the sequel looks to build on this, by adding new moves, new enemies, and introducing seasonal game mechanics. Frontier have not revamped the game, instead they have concentrated on refining and adding to the gameplay experience. This without a doubt was one of the prettier looking titles on show and will be well worth a closer look on release.
Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 2
Having played the original (back in the day... I am showing my age), I am happy to say we are getting more of the same point and click gameplay liberally sprinkled with double entendres and joviality that defines the franchise and now in episodic format.
You, Me and the Cubes
Eno's take on the puzzle genre is an original concept. You play on a series of interconnected cubes that you have to throw people off, without screwing up the balance of the cube you ejected them from, another simple yet addictive title.
Super Meat Boy
Definitely one of my favourites on show, a mix of irreverent and random humour (come on, the hero is a slab of raw meat and his girlfriend is a bandage called Bandaid Girl), carried out over some two hundred levels of platforming goodness. Navigate your hero over buzz saws and other gruesome traps to be reunited with your loved one. Did I mention the villain is named Dr. Fetus?
Max and the Magic Marker
Think nursery school drawings coming to life crossed with Kirby Canvass Curse. This is shaping up to be a lot of fun as you have to navigate Max across various levels using his trusty marker pen to thwart enemies and puzzles.
Bit.Trip.Void
The next instalment of the decidedly retro Bit.Trip series is a hypnotising blend of the old school and music beat games Think Rez but baser. You control a pixelated black dot collecting other black dots whilst avoiding white ones. Sounds simple and maybe a little bit crap? Not at all, as you collect black dots, your black dot grows bigger and eventually fills the screen making avoidance of white dots increasingly difficult. You only get points if you decide to bank the dots you have collected, otherwise losing them if hit by a white dot. Developer Alex Neuse from Gaijin Games explained gleefully 'It's all about greed, do you keep on going or bank your points?'. Simple and addictive.
Night Sky
Another beautiful looking game, that plays like a 2D version of Marble Madness. You control a ball and have to navigate it across the gorgeous looking 2D landscapes using the environment and special powers to do so.
And Yet It Moves
An interesting game from devs Broken Rules that has you navigate your character throughout a world that can be turned 360 degrees in any direction, hopefully allowing you to fall past obstacles without dropping too far and dashing your brains out for the trouble. The game has a distinct scrap book feel to it; even the character seems to be hand drawn. Asking Jan Hackl from Broken Rules about this, he amusingly explained "we did not have any proper lead artists to design the world, so we tried it ourselves. Realising that we were not any good at drawing either we decided to go through old books and hunt the Internet for interesting textures."
Zombie Panic in Wonderland
Just like Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ on the DS, this title has you at the bottom of the screen as hordes of the un-dead and ninjas try to take you out. Perfectly inane carnage, but time will tell if twelve levels of the same thing could get repetitive.
Worms Battle Islands
Worms are back! Did they ever go away? This was originally going to be a disc release and it is crammed full of stuff, you are seriously getting a good bang for your buck. As usual the normal Worms game is here, along with some tactical twists that aims to freshen up the whole experience. Players can compete for each other's abilities as well as build custom weapons (also custom nameable, now that should be fun online; B.F.G. anyone?) that can be stolen, all along with an easy to use level creator.
Comments